Should statistical analysis of bond-strength data include or exclude cohesive failures?

The aim was to investigate shear bond strengths and failure modes of four self-etch bonding agents to bovine dentin and enamel and to compare evaluation of data sets with or without exclusion of cohesive failure specimens. Composite-cylinders were bonded perpendicularly to bovine dentin and enamel surfaces. Shear-strengths were measured 24 h post-bonding of: Scotchbond Universal® (SBU, 3 M), OptiBond™ XTR (OBXTR, Kerr), OptiBond™ universal (OBU, KaVo-Kerr) and Prime & Bond active® (PBA, Dentsply-Sirona). Analysis of overall data was made via a linear mixed-model. This was repeated after exclusion of specimens associated with cohesive failures. When both adhesive and cohesive failures were considered, OBU and OBXTR showed comparable dentin and enamel bond strengths, whereas lower strengths were found on enamel for SBU (p